AGM 2017

14 Jun 2017 | Club News

At its meeting on Saturday 8th April the board voted to put the following resolutions to the AGM:

That Oasis Accounting Services be appointed as the independent accountant.

As a result of ill health, Mr D.A. King, who had been our independent account for a number of years, was unable to put together the 2016 accounts. Accordingly, the treasurer found a replacement, Oasis Accounting Services, based in Croydon. In the opinion of the board, they did a first-rate job at a very reasonable price.

That the name under which the club operates should be changed to Adventure Out.

As you will be aware, the original proposal was that the name should be changed to Venture Out. Following the board meeting, we were advised that the company Venture Out Expeditions, incorporated in July 2016, was in the business of providing outdoor activities for children and young people. Given the possible confusion that this might cause, the board decided that it would not be appropriate for us to change our name to Venture Out.

a. That the fee for single membership should be increased to £17.00 per year.

The fact of the matter is that we are selling ourselves too cheaply. Although the current membership fee covers the club’s running costs, it does not provide us with the resources for future development. In particular, we need a marketing budget. While we don’t wish to imitate Outdoor Lads, we do need to market our club as professionally and effectively as they market theirs. Over several years, we have tried to find the expertise in house to enable us to do this, but with no success. This means that we will have to pay for it. The additional income from the increased membership fees will enable us to do that.

b. That the £4.00 per year discount that currently applies to joint memberships should be abolished.

The board believes that the discount for joint memberships cannot be justified, especially as joint memberships involve more administrative work.

c. That no new joint memberships should be sold.

Please note that is resolution 3 (b) fails to pass, this resolution will be withdrawn as we would not wish to distinguish between new members and existing ones.

d. That Outdoors should be charged at £20.00 per year as a separate item.

In order to ensure that Outdoors is self-financing, we propose that it be charged as a separate item to which members can subscribe when they renew their membership.

e. That group coordinators should be given free membership.

The bulk of the work involved in putting on the club’s various events falls to the group coordinators. Without the work they do, we don’t have a club! The board believe that giving free membership to group coordinators would be a small gesture of recognition for the essential work that they do on our behalf.

The Election that Never Was!

As you will be aware, at our April meeting, the board approved a change in the way that trustees are elected to the board, by giving the members the opportunity to express their support, or otherwise, for those who have been nominated to serve.

However, our Articles of Association require us to have a minimum of six trustees, and this year there are only six nominations. Bearing in mind that this year’s AGM will have a great deal of other business to conduct, the Returning Officer and I have decided not to conduct an election as all those nominated will be returned automatically.

I have to say that this is a rather worrying situation. Were one of the trustees to be hit by a bus, we would need to recruit someone immediately in order to continue running the club’s affairs. We will therefore be hoping to find at least two more people for the board in the weeks following the AGM. If you are interested, please contact either me or Richard.

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